General Classroom Policies

The policies that govern teaching, advisement, and other faculty activities are detailed in the Undergraduate Bulletin and the College's Policies and Procedures. The selected policies below address questions and issues that commonly arise during the course of the semester.

Syllabus

1. The College Senate adopted the following syllabus policy effective Fall 2022:
   
   "During the first week of each semester members of the teaching faculty are required to prepare for each course an electronic version of the syllabus and publish the syllabus to the college’s learning management system. Students who request a paper copy of the syllabus will be provided with one by the instructor. The following information, subject to reasonable changes as circumstances require, must be provided in the syllabus:
   
   1. an outline of the sequence of the course and the topics to be covered in the course;
   2. a reading list, texts, and/or materials required;
   3. grading procedures;
   4. the intended learning outcomes of the course;
   5. test dates including date and time of the final examination;
   6. schedules for assignments, experiments, and projects;
   7. descriptions and due dates of papers the student will write for the course. 8. information on legally required accommodations for persons with disabilities, attendance in classes on religious holidays, and leaves of absence for service members on active military duty."

Copies of course syllabi shall also be placed in department files. See also Academic Affairs, Section XII of Policies and Procedures.

In addition, the Provost’s office recommends addressing the following on syllabi.

Artificial Intelligence: We strongly urge you to add a statement to your syllabus on use of Generative AI in your course. See samples curated by TLC Director Alexis Clifton here. See more AI resources gathered for faculty on the Ideas that Matter: Artificial Intelligence home page.

Student Success Resources: As you prepare syllabi and electronic resources, the Provost’s Office has collected common information that you may wish to include about student success resources at the college. At that link you will find information on frequently-accessed services such as accessibility accommodations, tutoring and learning centers, research and technology assistance, and general information about well-being. Please feel free to incorporate these materials into your course syllabi and/or modify them as needed for your specific classes.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all classes. Furthermore, the College recognizes that students hold primary and ultimate responsibility for their academic performance and accomplishment. Students are expected to recognize the importance of regular class attendance and to complete satisfactorily all requirements of all courses in which they are registered.

Student attendance in classes on religious holidays is governed by New York State Education Law, and students who do not attend classes on certain days because of religious beliefs should refer to the policy below.

Religious Holidays

Click here for: Dates for all Religious Holidays 

New York State Education Law Section 224-a reads as follows:

Students unable because of religious beliefs to attend classes on certain days.

1. No person shall be expelled from or be refused admission as a student to an institution of higher education for the reason that he or she is unable, because of his or her religious belief, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirements on a particular day or days.

2. Any student in an institution of higher education who is unable, because of his or her religious beliefs, to attend classes on a particular day or days shall, because of such absence on the particular day or days, be excused from any examination or any study or work requirements.

3. It shall be the responsibility of the faculty and of the administrative officials of each institution of higher education to make available to each student who is absent from school, because of his or her religious beliefs, an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirements which he or she may have missed because of such absence on any particular day or days. No fees of any kind shall be charged by the institution for making available to the said student such equivalent opportunity.

4. If classes, examinations, study or work requirements are held on Friday after four o'clock post meridian or on Saturday, similar or makeup classes, examinations, study, or work requirements shall be made available on other days, where it is possible and practicable to do so. No special fees shall be charged to the student for these classes, examinations, study, or work requirements held on other days.

5. In effectuating the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the faculty and of the administrative officials of each institution of higher education to exercise the fullest measure of good faith. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student because of his or her availing himself or herself of the provisions of this section.

6. Any student, who is aggrieved by the alleged failure of any faculty or administrative officials to comply in good faith with the provisions of this section, shall be entitled to maintain an action or proceeding in the supreme court of the county in which such institution of higher education is located for the enforcement of his or her rights under this section.

6a. A copy of this section shall be published by each institution of higher education in the catalog of such institution containing the listing of available courses.

7. As used in this section, the term "institution of higher education" shall mean schools under the control of the board of trustees of the State University of New York or of the board of higher education of the city of New York or any community college.

Final Exam Week Sessions

Each class has a time period scheduled during the final examination week which "counts" as part of our official total class instructional time. Every class must meet during the final examination time assigned to it on the Final Examination page of the Master Schedule. A faculty member may choose to a) devote the entirety of the period to an exam, b) devote part of the period to an exam and the remainder of the period to instructional activity, or c) devote the entire period to instructional activity. A request to cancel, revise, or significantly abbreviate the final exam week class session must be made in writing and approved in advance by the Dean of the College. (Please do not assume that approval will be granted automatically.) See also Academic Affairs, Section XIX of Policies and Procedures.

Posting of Grades

Faculty are encouraged to use the Canvas grade book tool to post grades. Students should log onto myGeneseo to learn their final, posted course grades.

Grade Appeals

Holding Papers from Previous Semesters

Registered, Withdrawn, Pass/Fail Status

The terms "Registered," "Withdrawn" and "Pass/Fail" denote a student's administrative status within a course; the assignment of these terms does not fall within the grading responsibilities of the faculty. A faculty member may not register a student for or withdraw a student from a class, nor may a faculty member alter a student's pass/fail status. A student who is registered for a class must be permitted entry to all authorized classroom activities.

Time, Date, Room For Classes

Classes (including final exam week sessions) are held only during the days, time periods, and rooms listed in the official Master Schedule for each term or indicated in published updates and corrections. Faculty are not authorized to alter or modify class times and locales without advance written permission from the Office of the Dean of the College. Required out-of-class activities must be reasonable in scope and must provide sufficient options and/or alternative opportunities for students with other academic commitments at the time of the required activity. See also Academic Affairs, Section IV of Policies and Procedures.

SCEs 

(Student Course Experience, formerly SOFI): Students may complete SCE surveys for all classes online. Information for both students and faculty is available from the Office of Institutional Research.

Grading Policy

Grades are submitted electronically to the Registrar’s Office through Knightweb. Semester grades must be submitted within 72 hours of the final examination. E grades will require entry of a “date of last attendance.” Any difficulty in submitting grades should be discussed immediately with the Registrar.

Incomplete Grades: 

Use of the “I” (incomplete) is appropriate only for extenuating circumstances, such as illness, death of a family member, or other emergency. At the time that an “I” is awarded, the faculty member should discuss the options for completing the requirements with the student and establish clear deadlines for submission of incomplete assignments or requirements. See further information and guidance from the Dean of Academic Planning and Advising. You are encouraged to use DAPA’s Incomplete Grade Plan to outline the student’s remaining academic responsibilities.